Question: Horacio de la Costa’s pastoral letter has somehow shaped the very fate of

the Rizal law. Though the authenticity of the letter was very much suspected and
never definitely established, still it added fuel to the fires of discord. Several drafts of
the pastoral letter which he wrote for the bishops in 1952 survived, imposing different
attitudes of the church towards Rizal, one draft being different than the other. Briefly
discuss the content of the Draft C.

Answer:

In draft C, it tells us there is a conscious effort to deny to Rizal the moral role, so
prominent in draft A, and which played so important a part in his life. He is no longer
said to have devoted himself “to raising the moral standards” of his people. His novels
are said to develop in the youth “a sane and constructive nationalism” but not “the
moral qualities of justice, responsibility, and integrity.” The whole long passage on
Rizal’s “unswerving devotion to the truth” is omitted. So too is the quotation from
Rizal that had been adduced in support of that characterization, where he insisted on
“the objectivity of my narrative” with regard to the Noli. Indeed, a new paragraph is
added “to suggest that the affectionate realism with which Rizal regarded his country
and his people should characterize our own attitude towards Rizal himself.” “He had
his human failings like the rest of us, and while he showed great wisdom and courage
in returning to the true Faith before his death, we cannot ignore the fact that he did
lapse from that Faith.” “Let us therefore by all means honor Rizal, but for the right
reasons: first of all, for his unselfish devotion to this country, and secondly, for the
depth of insight with which he examined and analyzed our national problems.” The
moral dimension of A is completely omitted as a reason for honoring Rizal, whether
in his person or in the teaching he imparted.